Flatiron NoMad Partnership Celebrates Halloween with Free Walking Tour

On Sunday, October 29th, the Flatiron NoMad Partnership will host a special walking tour celebrating Halloween and the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). The free “Tour of the Dead” will feature spooky stories and scary events that happened in the neighborhood.

Participants will learn about the Eden Musée, which opened on March 28, 1884, in an impressive stone building at 55 West 23rd Street. The amusement center housed a large collection of waxworks and the infamous Chamber of Horrors. After the Eden Musée closed in 1915, the Chamber of Horrors was purchased at an auction and exhibited at the Coney Island Eden Musée until a fire destroyed the collection of wax figures in 1928.

In addition, the tour will feature stories about the filming of the hit movies Godzilla and Spider-Man in the neighborhood and the Harry Potter New York flagship store, which opened across the street from the Flatiron Building in 2021.

Participants will also learn about one of the most popular costume destinations in New York City: Abracadabra, which for nearly 30 years has offered costumes, accessories, makeup, and magic on West 21st Street.

Stories of several “architectural ghosts”—buildings that have been demolished—will be featured. A few of them are hiding in plain sight, such as the plot of Mr. Edward King's home, which is a historic hold-out, and the reclad home of Edith Wharton, which was located just opposite the old Fifth Avenue Hotel. Today it sits on the exact footprint of the present 200 Fifth Avenue Building and holds some of the old hotel's secrets. Participants will also see the only surviving 1850s row house near Madison Square Park.

Fred Cookinham, a professional tour guide and history buff, will lead the spooky 90-minute tour, which meets on Sunday, October 29th at 11:00 a.m.—rain or shine—at the tip of the Flatiron Building, on 23rd Street just east of 5th Avenue. No advance registration is required. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

The Flatiron NoMad Partnership offers free walking tours throughout the year for visitors and locals alike. Since the Partnership began offering the tours a decade ago, more than 7,000 people—from 60 countries and more than 460 cities in the United States and Canada—have taken part in more than 610 excursions. For more information about Flatiron's historic walking tours, visit https://flatironnomad.nyc/things-to-do/free-tours/.